Fidel Dungeon Rescue is a cute and lean puzzle crawler

A lovely little dog goes down into a deadly dungeon in Fidel Dungeon Rescue [official site], a dungeon-crawling puzzle game released last night. It looks a lovely lean little one, with each level being a one-room grid with monsters, power-ups, and treasure activated by moving onto them. But it’s a puzzle game really, about optimising a route to hit as many monsters and treasures as possible without dying. I’d be playing it now if I didn’t have ugh work.

Fidel is a good dog, off to rescue grandma from this terrible dungeon. Fidel moves square to square, automatically picking up or fighting whatever’s in there, but cannot return to a visited square. It’s like, er, what’s the name for these puzzles? You know the sort: you plan a route through a place, touching each square only once. Loads of games do this. Surely it has a name, or at least a mother game used offhandedly as a genre name? [Update: like a Hamiltonian path, expect Fidel doesn’t make you visit every square.] Anyway! Fidel does that. That’s one puzzling element.

Combat is another. Each monster behaves differently, with some only vulnerable from certain angles or by attacking smaller parts, or being peaceful until you spill blood near them, or… that’s more to figure out and take into account when planning your routes. Killing enemies levels you up, which gives more health and therefore expands your range of possible moves, and coins fuel items too. Lots to consider as you dive into dungeons. Plus boss battles!

Each level is short but they’re procedurally generated, so there’s plenty to return to.

I’m reminded a bit of 868-Hack, another lean and puzzle-y dungeon crawler.

Fidel Dungeon Rescue is out on Windows and Mac through Steam for £5.09/7,64€/$7.64, which includes a 15% launch discount available until the 8th.